Relaxation (Day 3)

Sorry for the late post, I had no idea that blogging was gonna be this much work!

In my small suitcase, which I did not bring, I always made sure to have earplugs specifically for when I traveled with my dad. I didn’t expect to need them, but I sure wished I had them this morning. I initially woke up at 5:00 am, and it was bright in the room. I was determined to go back to sleep, but one guy’s snoring made it difficult. It was not as loud as my dad’s, but it was loud enough to keep me wide awake and wishing for nothing more than to be deaf. Partially what kept me up was trying to figure out how I would manage to do the least amount of walking to and from the train station, with as few locker open-and-closings. Suddenly, the snoring stopped, so I seized this opportunity and willed myself to sleep. I had some bizarre dreams, but nothing I can remember.

I woke up again at 8 am, feeling much more rested. I got dressed and headed for the train station to get my things. It took me about 30 min to get it and come back using the trams. Washed up and ready to leave by 10 am. This hostel actually had wireless, so there was no need to go to the coffee shop. Therefore, I hung around for a little while and goofed off on the internet. I had to meet Scott at the train station by 11, so I left around 10:50 after checking my mail for any potential last minute changes.

I got to the station right at 11 am. I was told to meet at the south side entry. I got there and saw no one I recognized, not even Scott. I circled the entire building at least 5 times, and then decided I would try using the payphone to call him. There was only one pay phone in the entire train station, and it was on a computer, using Skype. That is pretty clever, and highly profitable I imagine. It was also an internet station, so it didn’t matter what you were using, all it knew is that if you were making a phone call, you were using the internet… 3 minutes per euro.

I wasn’t expecting anyone to answer, but he actually picked up! It was a little difficult to understand him. I think he said he wore a black mask to sleep and didn’t wake up in time. Either way, he asked if I had gotten his email. Clearly not. He simply would not be able to meet today. So he wished me a good day and good luck on finding a place to stay for this evening. It was about lunch time, so I went underground, determined to find more cultural food than McDonalds. I decided upon a kebab place in one of the malls. I don’t remember the name, but kebabs sure do seem to be popular here! The platter came with sliced roasted meat of some sort (resembling that which goes into gyros), topped with a simple tomato sauce, both of which topped a bed of French fries. On the side was a salad. It was ok, not worth the 9 euros at all. The best part was the cold Coca Cola.

I decided that today I would give my feet a rest and take it easy at Wayne’s Coffee. So I wrote in my blog some more. Eventually I would have to journey to Suomenlinna later, but why not relax, and surf around on the internet for a while? Who knows, maybe I’ll actually find my way into conversation with some Finnish girls? Just as I was packing up and getting ready to leave, a girl who was sitting next to me said something in a foreign tongue.

I politely replied, sorry, I don’t understand. She excused herself, and repeated the question in English, “Are you about to leave?” I nodded and said yes. I continued to pack up my computer. She asked if I was on vacation, which is kind of funny, I thought everywhere outside the USA it’s called “holiday.” I said I was here to study architecture. She exclaimed, “Ohhh!” as she turned at looked at her friend. It was then that her friend decided to join the conversation, revealing that they too studied architecture. What a coincidence! We chit-chatted for a while, and I wished I had more of an opportunity to talk with them, but I was pretty much on my way out already.

Anyway, as I hinted at earlier, not much happened today. I took a ferry out to the island fortress, Suomenlinna. This island is a protected heritage site, but people actually live here! What’s better yet, people come here to hang out and just get drunk! By the time I got here, everything was pretty much already closed, save for a small grocery store. I bought what I thought to be some diced pork and some ramen noodles and made myself some cheap and tasty dinner at the hostel on the island.

Sorry for the short post, I’ll put pictures up later.